Plant-based diets can be great, but they are not always compatible with traditional Christmas dining.

Here are some great alternatives to Turkey and ham for your vegan family and friends. All these recipes are courtesy of The Kitchen Drawer. You can check out more of Rosemarie's recipes here.

Mushroom Wellington

This is a tasty and filling dish and is completely vegan. With its basketweave of flaky pastry, the vegan dish can become the centrepiece. It can be prepared ahead and popped in the oven to cook. Just be prepared to share! 

Ingredients:

20g dried porcini mushrooms 

2 tablespoon oil

250g chestnut mushrooms

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

2 large sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh sage

80g breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon treacle

100g walnuts

100g fresh or frozen cranberries

1 sheet puff pastry

Method:

Roughly chop the dried mushrooms and place in a small bowl, just cover with boiling water and leave to soak

Chop the chestnut mushrooms, onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a wide saucepan and cook on gentle heat for 10 minutes until soft

Chop the sweet potato into small chunks and add to the saucepan with the mushroom mixture. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or so until soft 

Drain the porcini mushrooms and add to the pan. Add the treacle, mix well and cook with the lid off for another 5 minutes

Finely chop the herbs and mix into the breadcrumbs and add to the mixture. The mixture should be quite firm at this stage

Take the pan off the heat and allow the mixture to cool

Roll out the puff pastry to 30 x 20cm and place it in a baking tin

Turn the tin so the narrow end of the pastry rectangle is facing you. Using the back of a knife slightly mark, without cutting, the pastry into 3 thirds.

Spread half of the mushroom mixture into the centre of the pastry, sprinkle with a layer of walnuts and then a layer of cranberries and finally top with the remaining mixture, smoothing out into a long neat brick-like shape

Cut each side piece of pastry into 2cm diagonal strips. Fold up the top and bottom ends of the pastry and carefully arrange the strips at each side to overlap in the middle

Brush with a little oil and bake at 200℃ for 35 to 40 minutes until well browned.

Equipment:

Sharp knife, chopping board, small bowl, wide saucepan, wooden spoon, tablespoon, rolling pin, baking tin, pastry brush

Maple Glazed Carrots

A nice simple way to jazz up carrots! Alternatively, if you are pressed for time the vegetables can be cut up and placed in a ziplock bag in the fridge the day before you need to cook them. 

Ingredients:

4-6 carrots

1-2 parsnips

1 teaspoon rock salt

2-3 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

Method:

Peel and cut the carrots and parsnips into batons 

Place in a large roasting tin, sprinkle over the salt and drizzle with oil 

Bake at 180℃ for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until cooked but still retaining a bite

Stir through the maple syrup and mustard and serve

Equipment:

Vegetable peeler, chopping board, sharp knife, roasting tin, wooden spoon, tablespoon, teaspoon 

Potatoes

You can easily make your mash vegan with palm oil-free vegan butter, salt, pepper and oat milk. The same goes for your roast potatoes. They can be made vegan by roasting them in olive oil with some rosemary and garlic. (if you parboil your potatoes before roasting you can get them extra fluffy on the inside). Did you know that most gravy granules and powdered gravy are vegan? Yes, Bisto is vegan.

Dessert

Vegan desserts can often seem limiting, with no egg or milk, it can be hard to recreate your Christmas favourites. Here are some great recipes we have tried out that hit the sweet spot.

Raspberry Sorbet

So easy to make and have some on standby in the freezer if you can resist the temptation! A great vegan alternative to ice cream and perfect on its own or with chocolate brownies

Ingredients:

200g sugar

300ml water

600g fresh or frozen raspberries

1 lemon 

Method:

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and cool

Put the raspberries and the juice from the lemon into a food processor and blend until you have a thick puree. If you don’t have a food processor or liquidizer, just mash the fruit with a fork or potato masher

Put the raspberry puree in a sieve placed over a bowl and put the puree through to remove the seeds.

Add the cooled sugar syrup to the raspberry puree and place in a shallow container to freeze for 1.5 hours. Use a fork to break the ice crystals and stir well and return to the freezer. Remove from the freezer to break the ice crystals once or twice more until you have  a smooth sorbet.

Equipment:

Saucepan, wooden spoon, food processor/potato masher, bowl, sieve, shallow lunch box or another container to freeze, fork 

Chocolate Brownies

These are so easy to make and taste great. This makes a baking tray full of thin brownies and so you have plenty to freeze and have to hand if you feel like a chocolate hit in an emergency! These are also completely vegan. 

Ingredients:

100g vegan margarine

50g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

160g sugar

Pinch salt

50g walnut pieces

25g dark chocolate pieces

40g cocoa

2 small bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180˚C

Line a 20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper & brush with oil

Put the margarine in a saucepan & melt on low heat. Take off the heat

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, walnut and chocolate pieces in a bowl and sieve in the cocoa powder. Mix everything together

Mash the bananas thoroughly with a fork 

Add the bananas and vanilla extract to the melted margarine and mix well  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients & mix well

Pour onto the greased tin and bake for 15 minutes

Equipment:

20cm baking tin, pastry brush, saucepan, wooden spoon, bowl, sieve, fork, teaspoon

Cranberry Tarts

These little tarts are the ultimate vegan version of mince pies, you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy them. They can also be frozen. In order to defrost them just pop the tarts in a warm oven to heat through. 

Ingredients:

340g fresh or frozen cranberries

200g sugar

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 sheets readymade shortcrust pastry

Oil

Icing sugar 

Method:

Place the cranberries, sugar, star anise and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and heat gently for approx 20 minutes, while stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the cranberries are soft

Take off the heat and allow to cool

Brush the bun tins with a little oil

Using an 8cm round cutter cut 15 large circles from the pastry and 15 small circles, hearts, stars etc for the tops

Carefully fill each tart with the cooled cranberry mixture and add your pastry top

Brush the tops with a little oil and cook at 180℃ for 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked

Cool slightly and sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving 

Equipment:

Saucepan, wooden spoon, pastry brush, large round cookie cutter and small cutter for tops, teaspoon, 2 bun trays  

Good luck with your cooking. Let us know how it turns out by tagging us on social media! Why not listen in on Christmas for some festive tunes.

Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.